Portes du Soleil ski resort comprises 11 interlinked resorts straddling the borders of France & Switzerland to form one of the largest skiing areas in the world. See Powderhounds for info, photos & reviews...

Portes du Soleil Ski Resort France

Portes du Soleil ski resort is the largest international skiing area in the world, straddling the border of France & Switzerland in a high snowfall region south of Lake Geneva.

As to exactly how many ski resorts comprise Portes du Soleil is up for debate. Depends as to whether it only includes the lift interlinked resorts, the lift pass linked areas or all the village/base areas. Some might say “who cares?” Well, we do. See below for our best crack at it.

Portes du Soleil Skiing & Snowboarding Terrain

The raw statistics are impressive. Over 600km of ski trails, 196 ski lifts, average winter snowfall of 8m and a longest run of 11km. We can’t wait to explore it.

There are 10 resorts interlinked by ski lift, piste trail & lift pass. Six of these are in France - Avoriaz, Châtel, Les Gets, Morzine, La Chapelle d'Abondance (only part interconnected) & Montriond (see the ski trail map here). Five are in Switzerland - Champéry, Morgins, Torgon, Les Crosets-Champoussin (some would say this last is two resorts!)(see the ski trail map here). A further 2 French ski resorts are part of the Portes du Soleil lift pass but are NOT ski lift or piste trail interlinked with the 11 other areas – Abondance & St-Jean d'Aulps. Glad everyone is clear on that!

Lift Passes

As one can imagine, with all these ski resorts there are a bucketload of ski lift pass options. The simplest is to just get a Portes du Soleil pass. The only catch is that one needs to start every day in the country it was purchased in! What the…?

Local resort passes are available but in amongst the main interlinked ski area, one needs to be mindful of the boundaries. There are lift passes linking smaller resorts together like the Morzine Les Gets combo. We shall work out the best options when we visit.

Where is Portes du Soleil, France?

The heart of the Portes du Soleil ski resort at Morzine is only 80km by road east of the Geneva international airport. Transport options from the airport are abundant. Direct buses, combinations of train (to either Cluses or Thonon-les-Bains) & bus or private transfer make more sense than car rental.

Portes du Soleil Accommodation

As the Portes du Soleil ski resort comprises a dozen or so villages in two countries, the question of where to stay is vexed indeed. This overview will concentrate on the French resorts. In short, the highest ski resort village is Avoriaz & it provides the best snow, ski in ski out options & links to the best terrain & Switzerland. A caveat though that it is a ghastly collection of high rises, albeit in a spectacular location.

The easiest villages to access by road are Morzine (the area’s largest village), Les Gets, Montriond (requires a bus to get to the slopes) & St-Jean d'Aulps. The village of Châtel is one of the more isolated but has excellent lift links to the Swiss resorts.